John Matesich walked into a ballroom at the Crowne Plaza hotel in San Pedro a little past 8:30 on Monday morning and took a look at the company he was about to keep and smiled broadly. He leaned close to new acquaintance and asked a question.

“What am I doing here?” he wondered. “I’m just a lifeguard.”

Then he smiled slyly because he knew better.

Matesich is much more than just a lifeguard, although that job was one reason he was selected as one of six newest members of the Sportswalk to the Waterfront. His impact on the lives of so many in the Harbor area was a huge factor in his selection.

For instance, Petros Papadakis, a former USC football player who now serves as a radio and television broadcaster, said he lived on Matesich’s couch for two years when he was a much younger man and had some difficulties with his parents.

Papadakis served as the master of ceremonies during Monday’s event at the corner of 6th and Palos Verdes streets in downtown San Pedro, telling stories and keeping a crowd of more than 350 entertained with his rapid-fire commentary.

No story got more laughs than when he talked about leaving his parents’ home to stay with Matesich, as he put it, “When I couldn’t live with them because they wanted to kill me, and I stayed with him for two years until his parents wanted to kill me.”

Papadakis then related a story about injuring his hamstring while filming a feature story in his job as a broadcaster for Fox Sports West. He said days later he was awakened at a far-too-early hour by a wide-awake Matesich hollering up at his bedroom window.

Matesich, seated on the stage, chuckled and shrugged. He thought he could help Papadakis, so he did. Helping others was one but certainly not the only reason he became a lifeguard when he was a young man living in San Pedro.

“I looked at it as a summer job with a chance to meet hotties,” he said, smiling.

Matesich has been going back to the beach for 55 years, spending at least 10 days in the tower per year over the last two years. The sea has called to him since he was a youngster, when he learned to swim at Cabrillo Beach.

He holds records in age-group competition in swimming, paddling, rowing, running and surf ski. He’s also in the Guinness Book of World Records as one of a group of seven paddlers from the South Bay who set a record for crossing the English Channel.

“It’s important to stay fit and stay in shape,” he said. “You never know when you’re going to get that call (to save someone in need of help in the water). … When the police or firemen save people, it’s a big story in the newspapers.

Bogdanovich was honored as this year’s winner of the Trani Award for his contributions to local athletics. He was a standout basketball player at San Pedro High and went on to win three state championships as coach at Cerritos College.

Guerrero grew up in Wilmington and recalled having Matesich as one of his teachers at Banning High, where he developed into a fine baseball player. Guerrero then went on to play second base at UCLA for four years.

Haden was a superb quarterback at Bishop Amat High in La Puente before going on to play at USC and then the Rams. He led the Trojans to two national championships in the 1970s and three appearances in the Rose Bowl.

Lusic, a San Pedro graduate, was selected as the 33rd overall pick in the 1972 draft by the Atlanta Braves. He played in the Braves’ minor-league system for seven years, including with Richmond (Va.) when it won the International League title in 1978.

O’Toole played on the boys team at Long Beach Wilson because there was no girls team. She went on to play for the women’s national team and, after a three-year layoff, rejoined the team when women’s water polo became an Olympic sport in 2000.

Elliott Teaford covers the Clippers and the NBA for the Southern California News Group. He has written about hockey for the past five years and is looking forward to thawing out after so many days and nights sitting in frozen rinks. He also covered the Lakers for five seasons, including their back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and '10. He once made a jump shot over future Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton during a pickup game in 1980 at Cypress College.

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